The Intelligibility of the English Vowel /V Produced by Native Speakers ofJapanese and its Relations to the Acoustic Characteristics

摘要

This paper examined the intelligibility of the English mid-low central vowel /A/ produced by 20 native Japanese speakers (JE /A/), and the acoustic characteristics of JE /A/ according to the different levels of intelligibility. Five native English speakers evaluated the intelligibility of JE /A/ in the word "but." F I and F2 frequencies and the duration of JE /A/ were measured and compared with those of /A/ spoken by native English speakers and the Japanese vowel /a/. It was found that JE /A/ with lower intelligibility was more often misheard for the low front vowel /w/ by the American listeners and tended to have a longer duration and higher F1 and F2 frequencies. L1 transfer occurred in the pronunciation of /A/ by the Japanese speakers, which resulted in the differences in the perception of JE /A/ by the native English speakers.